… Louisville declined a request to mutually cancel the series, so the Chick-fil-A Bowl and ESPN agreed to pay a $600,000 series buyout to Louisville and helped arrange an alternative home-and-home series for the Cardinals against North Carolina.

In addition, Georgia will receive approximately $1.7 million to appear in the game, while Boise State will receive $1.4 million.

The Bulldogs also cleared space for an extra 2012 home game – giving Georgia seven home games that season – by ending the Louisville series. McGarity said an announcement on that opponent should come in the near future.

So, he got the buyout cut in half, still has his school taking in more from the game than BSU and picks up a seventh home game in 2012. Not bad for a day’s work.

… The Georgia Dome seats more than 71,000 people, and Georgia fans are expected to fill most of those seats.

Boise State will be given 7,500 tickets and will not face a penalty if any are left unsold, Stokan said.

The rest of the allotted tickets, discounting those reserved for suite owners and local sales, will be given to Georgia. The number is yet to be determined, but Georgia could receive upwards of 50,000 tickets. In dealing with ticket sales, McGarity said his staff would model the allotment after the annual game against Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.

“Well, we’re going to talk about that actually Monday as far as our block,” McGarity said. “In other words, we already have sort of a model in place with the 40,000 tickets that we have in Jacksonville every year. So we basically have a model in place on how to deal with tickets of this bulk. So we’re going to sit down Monday as a staff and fine tune some things and deal with the allocation of 50,000 some odd tickets there.”

50,000 tickets for the home folks. I can see the grin on his face from here.

I like this matchup. Georgia really has nothing to lose playing Boise at this point. The media loves them, so it’s not as embarrassing if you lose, and if you win you get instant national credibility. And it might give them some confidence to make some kind of run the rest of the season, especially if Boise is coming off a title game appearance.

Not that it has anything to do with the price of tea in China, but still…

This is a great move for UGA: we increased our income for both ’11 and ’12, will line up another patsy (instead of travel to play a Charlie Strong coached defense), and we get a marquee game of week one.

Now, we need to focus on hammering Tech, then using the bowl practice and spring to get the defense to shore up all of those holes, wheel routes, etc. and close the deal on this recruiting class.

Agreed. And they’re trying to rectify the terrible conference issue. If Utah and BYU hadn’t bolted, the MWC would be a decent conference when they join next year, but as it stands they’re bringing the only other two teams worth a crap from the WAC in 2012 (Fresno & Nevada). So there’s that.

I love this matchup. I also like the home-and-home games with other big teams, but have started to understand the flaws in that early in the season. This is essentially a home game.

We may lose, but if we don’t get up for this one we have no excuse. I, for one, would love to see us come out of the gate with our heads on fire. If Richt’s seat really is “hot” next year, this would be a great game for him to show what we’re capable of.

I don’t care if they beat us or not, they play on blue turf and on Friday night. That means they suck. Oh, and they also wear orange.

UGA, on the other hand, wears red and black with silver britches. We play on Saturdays on fine hybrid bermuda grass. We have the most beautiful stadium in he country and we have a redcoat marching band.

Ya think VT would have done better if they hadn’t played on Monday night. Boise is well coached, disciplined and executes. I don’t think it matters what night they play. They’ve played on Monday,Tuesday, Friday, Saturday. I hope UGa can bring its A game. Careful what you wish for!

Looks like I guessed right yesterday on how Georgia’s tickets would be allotted. I assumed they would work it like Jacksonville for season ticket holders. I am very pleased to see that UGA will get more seats than are available in Jacksonville.

Should be a fun opener. Plus, my travel to the game is cut in half! I can actually leave from home on game day if I choose now!

Obviously, the finances of the thing work out really well for us. But on the football side of things, I’m a little worried this may be a lose-lose for us. If we lose, we remain the laughingstock of a conference (not to mention the rest of the country) that still does not think very highly of mid-majors like Boise. The narrative won’t be “Boise’s a different team than they were in 2005.” Instead, the narrative will be “Look how far Georgia’s fallen since 2005.”

On the other hand, if we win, I fully expect the narrative from the media to immediately switch to “Apparently, Boise really can’t match up with the likes of an SEC team, so we can’t really give Georgia too much credit here.” Or at the very least, it’ll be “Boise just had an off day against Georgia, that’s all.” One way or another, the media will find a way to be unimpressed by a Georgia win.

Wouldn’t be the first time. Before our Sugar Bowl game against Hawaii, how many in the media jumped on the BCS-buster-bandwagon and picked them to beat us? And after we destroyed them, how many said some version of “Meh. Georgia had it easy. Hawaii just doesn’t match up to BCS conference competition”?

They set-up the Cinderella story any chance they get, because it’s the story they’re all dying to tell. And then, when it all comes crashing down, they disavow it as quickly (and hypocritically) as possible.

Actually, if UGA loses I expect the spin from the WWL to be both ways at the same time. UGA ain’t sh!t and look how great Boise is–they beat an SEC team and would be SEC champions if Boise played in that conference.

As I told my Bama friends, Utah in 08 was not Hawaii. And Boise ain’t anywhere near the Warriors either. Boise is getting respect from folks who know anything about College Football. I don’t care about their schedule…they can only do so much about that. But I have a pair of eyes and I can see an outstanding football team when I see it. If we beat them, we will get the kudos we deserve.

And if we were to lose, then so be it. At least we aren’t playing the crap schedule of Florida and so many of our SEC bretheren.

This is a shrewd move by McGarity. Keeps both pro Richt and anti Richt s happy. Basically giving Richt a chance to coach for his job. Carolina is game 2. Lose those two and the fan base goes nuts. Win those two and everybody is happy until Jacksonville. Go 1-1 not good enough.

I like the idea of playing in the Dome and playing a team that is getting major media attention now. This beats the hell out of traveling across the country for a match-up and then having to play South Carolina the next week. It also beats playing a home and home against a team that nobody cares about. I also like having seven home games the next year and an off week before facing the Gators. Making a pile of money is another plus. McGarity has set CMR up for a BCS run, if Richt and Grantham do their jobs and Garner and Bobo get off their butts and get Richt his dream team 2012 could be a very good year.

McGarity is a genius. I hope this placates all the naysayers about McGarity’s scheduling philosophy. He’s doing what is best for UGA. The Dawgs could be right back on top of the football pyramid with this bold stroke. That said, McGarity needs some cooperation from the football program, like winning the damn game.

Dude , we are 5-6 right now …. we need some reps and some Victories to get those kids believing in themselves. VT loss to James Madison for goodness sakes and I’m sure it had a lot to do with losing to Boise. We got mud stomped after the emotional LSU loss by lowly Tennessee, wins build morale and allow for some climb on the learning curve. We don’t always need face a punishing opponent to grow and learn.

Being 5-6 right now has zilch to do with playing quality opposition. Sorry, Colorado doesn’t fit that bill.

I am not saying we need to play a juggernaut OOC. But if we are honestly afraid…yeah afraid…about playing Boise the week before South Carolina, we need to check our man card out. That is so bogus.

We lost to South Carolina after beating the ever loving crap out of Louisiana Lafayette. So how did playing that joke of a football team help us? We lost to Auburn after playing an even more pathetic Idaho State. Did that help us.

Tired of bogus excuses. We got blown out by Tennessee in 07 too. That one came after a freakin bye.

Bob, take some advil. Your 2012 home schedule includes 6 games. 4 of which are locked in! The Georgia Southern game is genius because it gives us a chance to see their high school offense the week before we see Tech’s high school offense. The Buffalo game is what it is. Your earlier posts sound like we should be afraid of playing Boise…now you are upset at what basically amounts to the Buffalo game. Which is it?
Also, don’t be a moron on the Green suspension, you know what AHD meant.

UGA also gets another homegame gate out of this with the 2012 opener being in Athens rather than in Louisville. Good move financially for UGA. I really like the job McGarity is doing. And yes, it is skinny down here.

Exactly. The SEC schedule is what it is, McGarity doesn’t make any changes to that. Besides, how many times are you going to look at a home schedule that includes Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Georgia Tech and say “Wow, that’s a crappy home schedule”. I mean, come on, people. Give the guy a break. Besides, are we really going to be complaining if those wins against “non-BCS garbage teams” are putting us in a position to be undefeated and playing for a national title? I don’t think Florida complained.

“I feel your pain”….but this 2010 is littered with “reasons” why we came up short. WR King, RB King and Ealey, AJ, Chapas, -who am i missing ? They didn’t play a full schedule. For various reasons. Where did the O line go? Give those guys some vitamins, Viagra whatever. Florida gets an extra week to install the no huddle O…. the transition from 4-3 to 3-4. (Ask Texas who may not see 6 wins in 2010 post NC run, about that transition from the spread to power run game). Yeah it sucks…but those are “reasons” not “excuses”
There are “excuses” that do little harm to anyone. There are reasons that produce great harm.

I don’t totally disagree with you. And I absolutely can understand wanting to have some balance in the scheduling. Last year was clearly too much, especially compared to most of our SEC bretheren who choose to avoid OOC games like the plague. So I do understand that.

But I am also tired of hearing reasons or excuses…you pick…that we lost to Bama in 08 because we traveled to Tempe. Sorry, that simply does not fly. It is not like we got back by Conostoga Wagon on Tuesday before gameday. Is it a disadvantage…yeah, maybe slightly.

I simply do not get off in the least bit by bashing 3 garbage teams a year Between the Hedges. And I especially don’t get off on it knowing that the same folks who have this great desire for another home game for the fans and the local businesses, have no problem continuing to play the Florida game 70 miles from the Swamp EVERY year.

You really do need to take the Jacksonville trip out of the equation…it’s not an option-so let it go. There are other options we can focus on and McGarity seems to be exploring them. I’m down with that. I’m not gonna second guess him. “Not in my arena” ;-). Whatever he can bring to bring some stability to the program is in his “experienced hands”. Meanwhile, I’m wanting to circle the wagons …put our best foot forward …stop poor mouthin’ and take advantage of a very good crop of young football players that this state has produced in awhile. Their perception of the fan base and football program is critical right now.
Go Dawgs!

Quote Of The Day

“It brings back a great Bulldog running back in Thomas who has NFL playing experience and has had success as a college coach at multiple schools. He also inherits a position that has been built to an elite level by Bryan. And it gives Bryan the opportunity to return to coaching the position he played and the one where he cut his teeth serving as a graduate assistant under wide receiver coach John Eason here at UGA. It also provides him with a new experience as a passing game coordinator.” -- Mark Richt, AB-H, 2/16/15